Pigs in Space
Pigs in Space is a recurring sketch from The Muppet Show, featuring the exploits of Captain Link Hogthrob, First Mate Piggy, and Dr. Julius Strangepork leading a crew of pigs aboard [[the Swinetrek|the Swinetrek]]. The sketch, in concept, is essentially a parody of Star Trek, Lost in Space and other space operas of the 1960s and 70s. Pigs in Space first appeared on The Muppet Show during the second season. The recurring sketch became a popular part of the series, appearing in 32 episodes over four seasons. During the sketch's first year, Pigs in Space began with an introduction featuring the crew's commanding roster. Each introduction, narrated by Jerry Nelson as the Announcer, used several different humorous adjectives to describe the characters by name. This was dropped starting with the third season. The concept of a pig-dominated science fiction story first appeared in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. "Return to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs" parodied Planet of the Apes with a human character finding himself under the scrutiny of an all-pig populated world. Although it pre-dates The Muppet Show’s second season introduction of the proper Pigs in Space sketch format by two years, Frank Oz considers it something of a prototype for what would become a recurring segment.Newshour interview, March 4, 2018 The popularity of Pigs in Space won the sketch a spot on the second ''Muppet Show'' cast album released in 1978. The script for the skit used in episode 205 was re-recorded in the studio by the performers. That same year, the events of the sketch from episode 209 were translated to the pages of The Muppet Show Book, as illustrated by Tudor Banus. The height of pop-culture awareness for the crew of the Swinetrek occurred in 1981. As part of NASA's morning wake-up call tradition, by which the crew of the space shuttle are awakened with stirring music, familiar song lyrics, or comedy routines in order to boost morale and encourage camaraderie between the astronauts and their mission control colleagues, the crew of the [[Pigs in Space: Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle Columbia]] were greeted by Pigs in Space on two consecutive mornings. Specially recorded by the Muppet performers for this occasion, two separate comedy routines were heard, one on the morning of November 13, and another on November 14, where it followed a rendition of "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean" by a flight directorate band.Fries, Colin. Chronology of Wake-up Calls, NASA History Office PDF document After The Muppet Show, Pigs in Space was adapted into a video game for Atari, featured as animated segments on Little Muppet Monsters, revived as Pigs in Space: Deep Dish Nine on Muppets Tonight, appeared in comic book format in The Muppet Show Comic Book by Roger Langridge, and as an online web series launched in 2016. Sketches Comics The "Pigs in Space" sketch from episode 209 was translated into illustrated form in The Muppet Show Book by Tudor Banus. "Pigs in Space" appeared in The Muppet comic strip written and illustrated by Guy and Brad Gilchrist. Roger Langridge adapted the sketch into a comic for Disney Adventures magazine and included the sketch as a recurring segment in The Muppet Show Comic Book. In one "Pigs in Space" sketch featured in "The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson," a kangaroo appears on the Swinetrek and Piggy and Strangepork think that the kangaroo is Captain Link. The pair attempt to reverse the "transformation" by shoving the kangaroo into the teleporter, just as the Galactic Council calls in for a report. When the council receives no reply, they announce that they'll conclude the ship has been taken over and destroy it. However it turns out that the actually Link was simply taking a shower, and he is shown leaving the bathroom. "Pigs in Space" was featured in 19 of the 24 issues of the series. "Pigs in Space" was the central focus of the "Pigs in Space: The Movie" comic book. In the stand-alone issue, Fozzie and Rizzo pitch a "Pigs in Space" movie to two studio executives. Referred to by Rizzo as "Flash Gordon meets Animal Farm," the story also features references to many popular science fiction series. Gallery Pigsinspacelogo-sketch.jpg|Early Pigs in Space logo design, sketched by Michael K. Frith in 1975 (later published in The Ubiquitous Pig). PIS.jpg|The cast of "Pigs in Space". Image:Bts pins.jpg‎|The Swinetrek set. Exhibit-CenterForPuppetryArts-Link&Julius-(2008).jpg|Link Hogthrob and Dr. Julius Strangepork puppets on display at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Exhibits AOTM PigsinSpace2.jpg|"Pigs in Space" puppets on display as part of The Art of the Muppets. Link jim and jane.jpg|Captian Link Hogthrob being performed by Jim and Jane Henson. Sources See also *Pigs in Space: Deep Dish Nine *Pigs in Space (animated) *Pigs in Space (online series) *Pigs in Space merchandise __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:Muppet Show Recurring Sketches Category:Space Category:Pigs in Space